Last Saturday, in The Perfect Prayer, Part 4, we saw that after acknowledging that our God is the perfect, all loving, all powerful, all knowing Daddy; after we realize that despite being our Daddy, God is holy, and we need to ensure that we honour the holiness of His name; after ensuring that the principles of God’s Kingdom be reflected in our lives, we are admonished in the perfect prayer to ensure that God’s will be done in our lives. This includes helping and encouraging other people, giving thanks, sharing the gospel, living God-filled lives, and healing!
This brings us to the first part of Jesus’ prayer that actually asks for something that will ensure our comfort: “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11 NASB)
Now many of you reading this understand all too well the need for this particular prayer. Your daily bread is not ensured. You have no idea where your next meal will come from or how to feed your children. Yes, this is a very literal and practical need. And since God doesn’t want us to go hungry (See Proverbs 10:3), we know it is in keeping with His perfect will.
Some of you, however, may have never even given a second thought to hunger. You know that when you go to the cupboard tomorrow, you will find it stocked full! Why ask God for our daily bread when it isn’t an issue? Perhaps this part of the perfect prayer is only for those who live in famine?
I don’t think so. Like so many parts of this prayer that we’ve already studied, I believe that there is a practical, literal meaning, but there are a couple of more abstract meanings as well!
First of all, food isn’t the only human need. On a physical level, we also need shelter, clothing, transportation, fresh water, education and medical care, etc. When we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” we are in essence asking God to provide for all of our material needs. If you don’t need bread, then substitute in what you do need: “Lord, give us today a roof that doesn’t leak!” or “Lord, my son is sick and there’s no money to see the doctor. You are our provision! Give us this day the medical care he needs!”
Taking this a step farther there are plenty of things that we need on a psychological and emotional level as well. Acknowledgement, love, appreciation, joy, peace, patience, comfort, etc. If your lack is more on this level, then your prayer can be, “Lord, it is hard because it seems like no one even acknowledges that I’m there. Show me today that I matter!” Or, “Lord, You know I can’t make it through this day without patience! I look to You as my source today to not blow up at my neighbour!”
Sometimes, however, our spiritual needs far outweigh our physical and emotional ones. What we really need is unselfish love, wisdom, discernment, knowledge, strength, guidance, etc. If this is our need, then our prayer can become, “Lord, today I’m going to need perfect __________ (insert your need). I acknowledge that this can only come from You, and I look to You to be my provision today!”
Does this sound like we’re simply asking for things?
If God didn’t want us to ask, it wouldn’t be in the perfect prayer. Remember what we learned in the very first part of this series? God is our perfect Daddy, and our biggest need is to depend upon Him for everything. This means that He is the source of everything we need, and when we ask Him, we are showing our dependency upon Him!
Still not convinced?
In the book of Exodus, Moses asks God how he is to respond when the Israelites ask him who sent him. God’s answer? “I am Who I am!” (Exodus 3:14 NASB). When God says “I am”, we can translate that to say, “God is”! This means that whatever it is you need, God … IS! When we pray this line of the perfect prayer, we are in essence saying, “God, I know that You are everything that I need! Please help me to remember this and to turn to You instead of turning to other sources! Give me this day everything that I need on an emotional, spiritual, physical and psychological level!”
Let’s remember in all of this what God is not telling us! In saying, “Give us this day our daily bread”, God is telling us to pray for things that we truly need! Not the things we think we can’t live with out; not the things we just want, not the things that would make us rich, but simply bread! Our necessities in life!
One more thought. Our needs tend to take up a large percentage of our habitual prayers. This is not a bad thing to pray, for it is included in the perfect prayer. But let’s remember where its place is in the prayer: It comes after we acknowledge that the all-holy God is our loving daddy who we should depend upon. It comes after asking Him to work kingdom principles into your heart and to ensure that His perfect will is done through you. And the rest of the prayer speaks nothing about our material and emotional needs. Perhaps we need to rethink the proportions of our prayers! Meditating on the Lord’s Prayer helps us to do just that!
I encourage each of you during this upcoming week, to continue praying the Lord’s Prayer daily. But this week, spend special time meditating on this one line: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Turn to God for ALL of your needs. Become dependent upon Him for everything. When you do, you will begin to notice big changes!
We are now halfway through this perfect prayer, but some of the most important parts are still to come. Please join us next Saturday for “Forgive Us Our Debts… The Perfect Prayer, Part 6.
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
(To access the entire published portion of “The Perfect Prayer” mini-series, please click here!)
